Pattern 382 Spode bone china Bute shape Trio hand-painted in a type of iron red enamel with various landscapes depicting ancient ruins together with rich band & line gilding. This design was produced by Josiah Spode II's factory c1802 in mainly a monotone sepia/charcoal grey enamel but this particular version in red is much rarer.
I believe the colour is Burnt Sienna; an earth pigment containing iron oxide & manganese oxide which in its natural state is a yellow-brown colour known as Raw Sienna but when it is heated it becomes this reddish brown colour known as Burnt Sienna.
You will notice the inevitable scratches to the enamel particularly on the saucer & this damage has occurred during the last 200+ years because the enamel colour burnt sienna/iron-red could not be fired at a high temperature otherwise it spoilt in the kilns. The problem arising from a lower temperature was that the colour did not fully sink into the glaze & remained on the surface of the bone china porcelain & vulnerable to scratching.
The other problem was a design fault of the era - the lack of a well to the saucer so that cups & cans always slid around precariously resulting in scratches to the saucers (& breakages to cups & cans). So this beautiful Spode little bone china Trio has survived remarkably well given the odds stacked against it.
The decoration is strongly influenced by the Romanticism Movement which regarded ancient ruins & wild landscapes as evocative symbols of natural human decay and the unstoppable power of Nature. Josiah Spode II was at the forefront of British social fashions & Romanticism was a new & growing trend.
The signature Josiah Spode II gilding pattern down the kinked handles.
Jane Austen (16 Dec 1775-18 July 1817) the well known English novelist who wrote about British landed gentry with biting irony, realism & humour regarding women's absolute dependence on a favourable marriage to provide them with health, wealth & happiness during the late 18th century received her only known offer of marriage in 1802 (when this Spode Trio was produced). She was 27 & initially accepted the offer which would have provided her with economic security but the next day she realised her mistake & withdrew her acceptance.
She had fallen in love with Tom Lefroy when she was 20 but as neither of them were independent financially the relationship was soon over & no other suitors ever seemed to measure up. Instead she published anonymously (writing was not a suitable occupation for a female), Sense & Sensibility 1811, Pride & Prejudice 1813, Mansfield Park 1814 & Emma in 1816.
She died aged 41.
There is very little wear to the gilding, this was obviously a prized possession. Notice also the width of the gilding band at the top rim, this was always that bit wider on Spode's early & good quality productions.
None of the pieces are marked to their bases which is completely normal for this early Spode period c1802.
This Spode Trio was purchased from Peter McGill at Cotswold Antiques and he informed me that it had been part of the Hans Seelig Collection. Hans was born in Mannheim on 18th July 1930 & died Hemel Hempstead 23 June 2009. He had been sent on a Kindertransport (children's rescue operation before WWII) in Spring 1939 from Germany to Sweden following the 1938 Kristallnacht attack on Jewish property & lives. He managed to rejoin his re-located parents in England shortly afterwards. Hans devoted his life to literature & music in Britain.
The 18th of July is a date which links these two stories & it is also a special date for me, its latest custodian.
You can see this trio advertised on Peter McGill's Cotswold Antiques website here:
I agree with Peter McGill's reasons to be interested in ceramics as expressed on his website:
"The main focus of Cotswold Antiques is on ceramics, particularly European porcelain. This is for three main reasons.
1. The story of how porcelain came to Europe from China – the secrecy and intrigue surrounding its manufacture at Meissen, and its early patronage by European royalty – fascinates me. It culminates in the dramatic rise in the 19th Century of British ceramics, thanks to the invention of bone china, the explosion in tea drinking, and not least, the genius of our potters and decorators.
2. The second reason is aesthetic. Ceramics chosen for Cotswold Antiques can, and in my opinion, should, be regarded as works of art. Producing unfinished porcelain of the right shape and quality was in itself a highly skilled, demanding and expensive process, but in the 18th and 19th centuries, this was usually just the blank ‘canvas’ to be decorated by hand. The end products, after the enamel and the gold paste changed colour in the kiln, are objects of beauty, often fashioned in grim and appalling conditions.
3. Lastly comes a practical consideration. Ceramics tend to be undervalued."
Here is a pattern 382 Spode Coffee Can all hand-painted in a monotone sepia coloured enamel which is the more usually found version of this design produced c1802. Enlarged photographs show each individual brushstroke but these little Coffee Cans which only stand about 2.5 inches tall or 6.5 cms can easily be mistaken as bat printed pieces at a casual glance however they were first produced before the bat printing technique was introduced at Spode on bone china porcelain.
I love this fairytale castle perched on top of this steep cliff & I imagine that is a river or lake below.
Josiah Spode II's signature gilding pattern down the kinked handle & rich band & line gilding around the top & base rims.
Beautifully clean inside (almost).
This particular Spode Coffee Can is marked to its base with its pattern number '382' in iron red enamel so I would suggest that it was not made at the time of the pattern introduction in 1802 but more probably c1810 when Josiah Spode II was marking many more of his wares following his appointment 'Potter & English Porcelain manufacturer to His Royal Highness' (The Prince of Wales) c1806.